Reviews tagging 'Blood'

The Year of the Witching by Alexis Henderson

141 reviews

r_a_bell's review

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

I liked the premise of the book, however, I was expecting it’s characterization of the witches to be different. I was disappointed that it didn’t subvert the traditional role of the witch as a villain. I do think it did what it was trying to do, but nothing more than that. The story itself was intriguing and tense, making it difficult to put down. I also really appreciated the dark gothic vibes  which made it a perfect fall read!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Gore, Misogyny, Sexism, Violence, Blood, Religious bigotry, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexual assault, Terminal illness, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Lesbophobia, War, and Injury/Injury detail

If you have any triggers surround the mistreatment/death of animals, DO NOT read this. The first paragraph has the graphic details of animal death and it is all throughout the book. After the first 2 or 3 instances of animal death, I skipped multiple chunks of text any time an animal was mentioned. Which was incredibly frequently. If I had known just how often this content is discussed, and in such graphic detail, I would’ve passed on reading it. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a good book! But in my opinion it’s not worth it

nightmarebees's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

this is a DEBUT?? my jaw is hanging open. i knew i would love this from the first few chapters, and i was not disappointed. exactly the witchy, cultish, don't-go-in-the-woods read i needed to kickstart yearning for fall. i personally was destined to love this book just based on vibes and wheelhouse items, but it also twisted classic themes in a new enough way to feel fresh.

"Some of them were innocent, others complicit; still more were caught in the gray between right and wrong. Few were wholly blameless, and none were free of sin. But there wasn't a single soul in that sanctuary she would condemn to the ruin that now lay before them." 

the overarching conflicts of this book are, at a glance, rather dichotomous. black vs white, church vs occult, women vs men, etc. however, henderson has written them into the world of bethel with careful thought and complexity. immanuelle herself is a study in plurality: mixed race, both witch and faithful. the sides of her family aren't pitted against each other with a clear 'bad guy'. vera accepts immanuelle entirely, doesn't conform to the violence of the church, but also hesitates to help save the people who her granddaughter loves. the moores are outwardly loyal to a corrupt prophet, but they still love immanuelle, have raised her as their own and do eventually stand by her in the end. even ezra is the rebellious son, the heir who claims to see everything wrong with his father's reign, but is willing to try and run away, protect himself and immanuelle alone at the expense of those still oppressed in bethel.

there wasn't a moment of this i wasn't excited to be reading. alexis henderson you are an auto-buy author now for sure

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Miscarriage, Misogyny, Blood, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Pedophilia, and Racism

themis_biblos's review

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

Meh.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Misogyny, Blood, Medical content, and Religious bigotry

annabellw06_'s review against another edition

adventurous emotional tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

I wish the ending was stronger. I understand that setting up for a sequel is important but so is ending a book properly.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexual assault, Blood, Religious bigotry, and War

spy_indeed's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Death, Torture, Blood, and Death of parent

natalierosy's review

dark mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Medical trauma, and Death of parent

Moderate: Physical abuse

Minor: Racism

tiphreads's review

dark emotional tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, and Blood

entre_fanon_y_weil's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Bullying, Child death, Confinement, Death, Gore, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Racism, Sexism, Sexual assault, Torture, Blood, Religious bigotry, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic

veeples's review against another edition

dark hopeful mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

I’ve read a couple of books that use a theme of fear of witches and the associated religious persecution, and unfortunately, this one is not one of my favorites.

While Immanuel does well to understand that the religion that Bethel operates her forces its black population to the outskirts, allows men of religious standing to take advantage of young girls, and cultivates a culture of fear and distrust, I kept expecting there to be more empathy for the witches of persecuted past or for Immanuel to come to see magic isn’t just something violent. There was potential for it too since her grandmother is a witch, but her magic is never spoke of, so there’s lost potential in letting Immanuel see the misinformation of the understanding of magic perpetuated by the church. Instead, magic and its witches are… just as bad as Bethel has always taught her. There’s no sympathy for the fact that a young girl and two queer women died, and no chance for Immanuel to even understand them more as people instead of purely monsters.

What I do enjoy about this book is the strong relationship and respect Immanuel and Ezra have together, how even if their ideas of what should be done clashes somewhat, their care for each means they wanna see each other live and thrive. I think Henderson does very well to show how even in someone as well meaning as Ezra, he still has ideas that he needs to rethink and challenge but he never puts Immanuel down for her own ideals.

Some other issues I have is I felt this book was quite a bit slower than I would have liked, and I wish Immanuel had more time to understand other things in the book namely: the outskirts and its culture and the history of magic, but maybe this will be touched upon in the sequel.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood

Moderate: Confinement, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Animal death and Police brutality

skelleybean's review

adventurous challenging dark sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

This book was so dark and raw, and I loved it all… until it tripped at the finish line and kind of turned into an after school special.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Death, Gore, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, and Pandemic/Epidemic